Is Unavailability Of Land India's Biggest Problem?

BANGALORE: Though the agricultural population of India grew by a whopping 50 percent between 1980 and 2011, which is the highest for any country during this period, India is still under the peril of scarcity of land.

Over 2500 years ago, Indian farmers discovered and begun farming. India is world's largest producer of many fruits and vegetables and the economic contribution of agriculture to India's GDP is steadily declining with the country's broad-based economic growth.

Still, agriculture is demographically the broadest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic fabric of India. Agriculture in itself produces more than 18.5 percent of the Gross Domestic product of the country and more than 60 percent people out of Indian population are involved in this sector. Indian agriculture plays a vital role in development of Indian economy.

In 1960, India was one relative of the countries that are land scarce and by 2050, it will be one among the most land scarce countries. According to World Bank data in 2000, the land available for agriculture was 1825730 sq meters, and in 2011, it last measured 1797990 sq meters. These data shows the gradual decrease in the land available. Rate of urbanization in India is increasing much faster than the decreasing rate of agricultural land.

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